The studios of Paramount Pictures are located at the south end of the same block, on 40 acres (16 ha) that were once an undeveloped part of the cemetery.

In that year, they—along with Mrs. M. W. Gardner of Santa Monica, Joseph D. Rodford, Gilbert Smith, and Thomas R. Wallace—formed a corporation known as the "Hollywood Cemetery Association.

Actress Hattie McDaniel, best known for her role as Mammy in the epic movie Gone with the Wind (for which she became the first African American to win an Academy Award) had expressed a desire to be interred at Hollywood Memorial Park.

In 1999 (the 47th anniversary of McDaniel's death), the cemetery's current owner dedicated a cenotaph in her honor at a prime location south of Sylvan Lake.

According to cemetery grounds supervisor Daniel Ugarte, the crematory was in such disrepair that bricks began falling in around Elliot's remains.

[10] In the late 1980s, Jules Roth sold two lawns totaling 3 acres (12,000 m2) that were facing the Santa Monica Boulevard front of the property.

He had been embroiled in a scandal regarding another cemetery he owned, Lincoln Memorial Park, in Carson, California in which hundreds of families came forward with a class-action suit over poor record keeping and missing bodies.

[13] Several months before his death, Roth was bedridden and disoriented, and during this time, his will was changed to provide for his business associates and maid, who were the only witnesses to his signature.

They renamed the cemetery "Hollywood Forever" and set out to give it a complete restoration,[15] investing millions in revitalizing the grounds and also offering documentaries about the deceased that are to be played in perpetuity on kiosks and are posted on the Web,[16] as well as organizing tours to draw visitors.

On June 14 and 15, 2011, The Flaming Lips played at the cemetery in a two-night gig billed "Everyone You Know Someday Will Die", a lyric from their 2002 single "Do You Realize??".

[18] The cemetery contained a Confederate Monument, erected in 1925 and maintained by the Long Beach chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy until August 15, 2017.

[24] James Douglas Cassity died of natural causes in 2020, following his release by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

[34] Allison Ponthier's 2022 song "Hollywood Forever Cemetery" explores the nature of performance and celebrity both in life and after death.

The body of the video contains photos and film clips of the honoree, interviews with friends or relatives, and music and narration.